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(New York, N.Y.) September 29, 2014 — Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda’s film test pattern will be reimagined for the Times Square billboards this October. From 11:57pm to midnight each night, digital screens will be taken over by tightly synchronized, flickering black-and-white imagery mining data for mathematical beauty as part of Midnight Moment, a monthly presentation by The Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC) and Times Square Arts. This month’s presentation is in partnership with the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)’s Crossing the Line festival and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. A special event on October 16 will be the first time sound is incorporated into the Midnight Moment and will precede two live concert performances at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on October 17 and 18.

This latest audiovisual work from Ryoji Ikeda, test pattern [times square], presents intense flickering imagery, floating and convulsing in darkness to a stark, powerful, and highly synchronized soundtrack. Through a real–time computer program, test pattern [times square] converts Ikeda's audio signal patterns into tightly synchronized barcode patterns on screen. The moving images will flicker ultra–fast, some hundreds of frames per second, so that the work provides a performance test for the audio and visual devices, as well as a response test for the audience's perceptions. test pattern [times square] is the third audiovisual concert in Ikeda's datamatics series, an art project that explores the potential to perceive the invisible multi–substance of data that permeates our world. Taking various forms – installations, live performance and recordings – test pattern [times square] acts as a system that converts any type of data (text, sounds, photos and movies) into barcode patterns and binary patterns of 0s and 1s. The project aims to examine the relationship between critical points of device performance and the threshold of human perception, pushing both to their absolute limits. A monumental installation of the test pattern series was shown as part of ‘the transfinite’ major exhibition presented at the Park Avenue Armory in 2011.

During the October 16th Midnight Moment, Ikeda’s test pattern [times square] will turn into a special public/private “silent concert” in the middle of Times Square. Up to 400 ‘Silent Events’ Headphones will be passed out so visitors can hear a special six minute segment of sounds that correspond to the patterns being projected onto the screens. The artist will be present on that evening.

Additionally, Ikeda’s superposition will make its US premiere at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on October 17th and 18th at 7:00 p.m. superposition is a multimedia music, visual, and theater work that explores the intersection between art and science. This performance is presented in collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum and the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)’s Crossing the Line festival. In conjunction with test pattern [times square] and superstition, Salon 94 will present a special exhibition of Ikeda’s work from October 20 -31. Details will be announced shortly.

Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance, said, “Times Square is continually bringing new and unique artists to our screens who are pushing technological boundaries. Ryoji Ikeda has a fresh take on multimedia art that not only creates, but reimagines visual art and, for the first time, involves sound to create a completely immersive experience.”

Sherry Dobbin, Times Square Arts Director, said, “Watching Ikeda’s test pattern [times square] makes you feel like you are walking right into your television set. The barcode patterns break and allow you to get lost in the beauty and imagery of his art.”

“Each month, the Midnight Moment continues to reinvent itself with unique, creative content using a variety of multimedia techniques. Ryoji Ikeda is the first artist to incorporate sound into the nightly show in the Crossroad of the World. Visitors and locals will surely be intrigued by October’s content as well as the new element featured in October 16th’s showing,” said Fred Rosenberg, President of the Times Square Advertising Coalition.

Midnight Moment is the largest coordinated effort in history by the sign operators in Times Square to display synchronized, cutting-edge creative content on electronic billboards and newspaper kiosks throughout Times Square every night. The program premiered in May 2012 and is organized and supported by the Times Square Advertising Coalition in partnership with Times Square Arts, the public art program of the Times Square Alliance, with additional partners of participating sign holders and artists.

Times Square Arts, the public art program of the Times Square Alliance, collaborates with contemporary artists and cultural institutions to experiment and engage with one of the world's most iconic urban places. Through the Square's electronic billboards, public plazas, vacant areas and popular venues, and the Alliance's own online landscape, Times Square Arts invites leading contemporary creators to help the public see Times Square in new ways. Times Square has always been a place of risk, innovation and creativity, and the Arts Program ensures these qualities remain central to the district's unique identity. Generous support of Times Square Arts is provided by ArtPlace America and ArtWorks. Visit TimesSquareNYC.org/Arts for more information. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @TSqArts.

Ryoji Ikeda (Gifu, Japan, 1966) lives and works in Paris, France and Kyoto, Japan. As Japan’s leading electronic composer and visual artist, Ryoji Ikeda focuses on the essential characteristics of sound itself and that of visuals as light by means of both mathematical precision and mathematical aesthetics. Ikeda has gained a reputation as one of the few international artists working convincingly across both visual and sonic media. He elaborately orchestrates sound, visuals, materials, physical phenomena and mathematical notions into immersive live performances and installations. Alongside pure musical activity, Ikeda has been working on long-term projects through live performances, installations, books and CD’s such as 'datamatics' (2006-), 'test pattern' (2008-), 'spectra' (2001-), ‘cyclo’ a collaborative project with Carsten Nicolai, and ‘superposition’ " (2012-).

His albums +/- (1996), 0°C (1998), matrix (2000), dataplex (2005), test pattern (2008) and supercodex (2013) pioneered a new minimal world of electronic music through his razor-sharp techniques and aesthetics.

Met Museum Presents: A wide-ranging series of performances and talks at The Metropolitan Museum of Art that explores contemporary issues and innovations through the lens of the Museum’s exhibitions and unparalleled gallery spaces. Met Museum Presents creates a platform for curators, thought-leaders, and artists to come together and explore the Met as a generative force.

The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) is New York’s premiere French cultural and language center. FIAF's mission is to create and offer New Yorkers innovative and unique programs in education and the arts that explore the evolving diversity and richness of French cultures. FIAF seeks to generate new ideas and promote cross cultural dialogue through partnerships and new platforms of expression. fiaf.org

Crossing the Line is the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)’s annual fall festival, presenting interdisciplinary works and performances in New York. The festival explores the dialogue between artist and public, and examines how artists help re-imagine the world as critical thinkers and catalysts for social evolution. Crossing the Line is initiated and produced by FIAF in partnership with leading cultural institutions. The festival’s eighth edition takes place this year from September 8–October 20, 2014.

Since its inauguration in 2007, Crossing the Line has cultivated an increasingly large and diverse following, and received numerous accolades in the press. The festival has been voted “Best of 2009,” “Best of 2010,” “Best of 2012," and “Best of 2013” by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, TimeOut New York, Artforum, and Frieze, with performances earning an Obie and several Bessie awards. The New York Times states, “For terrifically unusual, unpredictable, unnameable performance, we’ve come to expect a lot from … the curators of the French Institute Alliance Française’s interdisciplinary festival,” and The New Yorker says, “This interdisciplinary festival, focused but not exclusively devoted to contemporary French culture, goes from strength to strength.” For more information, visit fiaf.org/ctl.